Six For One
by Pheebs Buffay
Summary: Phoebe is raped. The friends come together to support her. Fairly short. Please Read and Review; This was the first fic I had ever written and is special to me. **Used to be up, but was taken down. Now Reformatted.**


Disclainer: These characters belong to the Friends 'creators. I'm just a huge fan with an imagination.  
  
SIX FOR ONE  
  
Chapter One  
  
The heater was broken in her apartment. Sometime during the early morning hours she had tossed the covers to the floor in the midst of a violent sleep. She had left the window cracked the afternoon before to air out the thick incense that often encircled her bedroom. The thermometer just outside read 37 degrees Fahrenheit, yet Phoebe Buffay woke this November morning in a cold sweat.  
  
"It was just a dream," she said to herself. But Phoebe knew it wasn't.  
  
She looked down at her bare legs and the horror of the night before rushed in like a flood. She was scratched and bruised; perhaps she fought harder than she had thought.  
  
"He had been so sweet to me…" The thought trailed off as the dam broke. Tears choked her.  
  
"I can't stay here…I have to be with…how do I tell they will think I'm so stupid…will they be up this.."  
  
"Hello," the calm familiar voice on the other line said.   
  
******************  
Chapter 2  
  
Joey Tribbiani had just settled down in his chair to watch his Saturday morning cartoons after finishing his third partial bowl of Lucky Charms. He liked to pick out the marshmallows. He was just drifting off to sleep when Monica burst in.  
  
"I need Rachel. WHERE'S RACHEL?"  
  
"Geez Monica! I was just about to have a nice nap. She's in the bedroom" Joey remarked. "What's so urgent anyway?" he added.  
  
Monica Geller ignored him, entered her friend's room without knocking, and slammed the door. Three minutes later the women flew by them on their way back to Monica's.  
  
Joey pondered the enigmatic subject that was women. Then he went to fix himself a sandwich.  
  
********************  
  
Monica had never had such a disturbing phone call, not even when her grandmother had died. She never thought she would be glad Chandler had gone to the office for the day to fix the WENUS or something like that.  
  
Pheebs had been seeing Ted for about a week now. He had wandered intro Central Perk on an evening she was introducing a new set. Ted seemed like a pretty nice guy, worked as a paralegal here in the Village. Phoebe had confided in Monica the day before that he was already pressuring her into sleeping with him, which was way too soon in the relationship. Pheebs was considering breaking it off then and there, but Mon had told her to talk it out her feelings with him.  
  
She hung up the phone, advising her friend she would grab Rachel and come right over. It was at that moment it hit her, a wave of guilt that almost knocked her off her feet.  
  
"If it weren't for me, Pheebs wouldn't have gone home with him to talk," she thought to herself. She was on the verge of tears, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was rallying up Rachel and getting to her friend.  
  
***************  
  
Rachel Green was just waking up when Monica burst into her room.  
  
"What the h--" Rachel began.  
  
"Phoebe's been raped!" interjected Monica.  
  
Rachel was at a loss for words. Never one to get ready fast, she found herself throwing on the pair of jeans she had on the night before and the first shirt she found in her closet. Makeup seemed frivolous this morning.  
  
They bolted out the door without even saying goodbye to Joey, who at the moment was engrossed in an episode of Garfield. It was too soon to include the guys in this.  
  
Phoebe didn't live incredibly far away, and they arrived within ten minutes. However, it took her awhile to answer the door. Rachel and Monica were very worried and were considering calling her from a cellular phone when the door opened before them.   
  
She stood before them in sweat pants and an Earth Day 1995 t-shirt. Her hair was a mess and traces of fading mascara stained her cheeks. It was obvious she hadn't showered yet.  
  
Rachel thought to herself that she had never seen Phoebe so fragile looking before. Pheebs had always been the toughest of the gang, most likely resulting from her experiences of losing her mother so young and subsequently living a nomadic existence on the streets of New York. Seeing her like this was heart shattering.  
  
Upon first sight of her dear friend, Monica immediately wrapped her arms around her. Phoebe hugged her back, tightly and Rachel quickly joined them. When Monica tried naturally to step away, Phoebe whispered her to please not let go. They stood there hugging for almost five minutes; Phoebe was quietly sobbing.  
  
******  
  
When they finally parted arms, Mon and Rachel led Pheebs to the couch. Phoebe began to tell her story. She had taken Monica's advice and told Ted that she wasn't ready for things to be moving so fast. He seemed understanding and took her out to dinner at a new Japanese place in the Village. He walked her back to her apartment.  
  
When they got inside, Phoebe hung up her coat and turned around. Ted took her by the wrist, shoved her to the floor and raped her. She confided in her friends the details. By this point she had turned into a little girl and was sitting on the couch, Rachel on her left side and Monica on her right, holding her knees and crying hysterically. Her best friends attempted to comfort her. Rachel had begun to sob with her. Meanwhile, Monica was trying to remain the tough one.  
  
"Honey, do you want us to take you to the hospital?" she asked while gently brushing her hair.  
  
Phoebe was afraid. She didn't want to go; in fact all she wanted to do was to sit there with Rachel and Monica.  
  
She told them about how he kicked her and just left. Phoebe didn't really know how she made it through the few hours until daylight (by the time he left it was approaching 3:30 in the morning). She had managed to lock the door, push a chair up against it and lie down in her bed. She eventually drifted off into a restless sleep sometime around 5 am.  
  
Now, a mere five hours later, she agreed to let her friends take her to the hospital.   
  
*******************  
Hospital policy allowed only one person to accompany a patient during an exam of such nature. Monica elected to accompany Phoebe while Rachel waited. Pheebs decided that she was not ready to tell the guys yet, she did not know how to do so. She also was not sure if she wanted to press charges. In actuality, she had never felt so scared or uncertain since the death of her mother.  
  
The exam process was mortifying, but Monica's presence seemed to ease things a bit. Meanwhile, Rachel nervously waited in the ER waiting room.  
  
She thought about how she would have handled the situation had it been her. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Phoebe must have felt at that moment. She was so angry. She didn't understand how someone could do that to anyone, especially her Phoebe. She wanted revenge for her friend. Feelings of helplessness crept up inside her…there was absolutely nothing she could do.  
  
When Phoebe was finally discharged, after deciding not to make a police report, the girls returned to her apartment. It was decided that Rachel would stay with Phoebe for a few days.  
  
"What should I tell Joey?" Rachel cautiously asked Pheebs.  
  
Pheebs paused for a second. "Tell him the truth."  
  
Chapter 8  
  
When the trio arrived at Joey and Rachel's apartment, Joey was nowhere to be found. The girls began to gather Rachel's stuff.  
  
"Honey, you can stay here if you want" Rachel commented to Phoebe.  
  
"Thanks dear, but I don't want to inconvenience Joey."  
  
After about an hour of sorting and packing (Rachel is not a light traveler), Joey, Chandler and Ross, returning from a hockey game, walked in. It was loud in Rachel's room; they had the radio blasting. Ross, deciding to be playful and sneak up on the girls, blinded Pheebs, who happened to be standing right in front of the door, with his hands.  
  
She must have jumped five feet as she let out a deafening scream.  
  
"Don't you dare ever do that to me again!!" she exclaimed before running to the bathroom and slamming the door.  
  
"What is she mistaking us for the ghost of her grandmother again?" Chandler remarked.  
  
"Shut up Chandler, just shut up" snapped Monica. She never speaks to her husband in such a manner.  
  
"What's wrong, hon?" he questioned.  
  
"Look, guys….we have something serious to tell you," Rachel responded. "Something terrible happened to Phoebe last night."   
****************  
  
Rachel and Monica took turns informing the guys of the situation. At Phoebe's wishes, they omitted the most intimate details. They told them that Phoebe had not decided if she wanted to report him or not.  
  
A look of uniform shock was evident on he men's faces. Chandler, for the first time in his life, was completely speechless. Ross couldn't stop apologizing for scaring Phoebe, who was still barricaded in the bathroom. Joey was instantly on his feet.  
  
"Where the hell does this guy live? I'm going to kick his ass like it's never been kicked before. No one does this to her."  
  
"I think he mentioned living over by the China King," Monica said. "Joey, be careful. We don't want you to be in trouble."  
  
"I will be, but you know, I don't care at this point….our Pheebs is in there right now crying her eyes out, that's all that matters."  
  
Joey left at that moment. Chandler followed him.  
  
"Hey Joe, wait up, I'm going with you."  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Ross, Monica, and Rachel managed to finally coax a tear stained Phoebe out of the bathroom. Ross sincerely apologized to her; Phoebe instantly forgave him.  
  
"May I hug you?" he gently asked her.  
  
"Please"  
  
The two of them sat on the couch, Ross tightly holding Phoebe. To an outsider it would appear like the sweet embrace of a couple curled up to watch a movie together, but there was no romance here. There was, though, a greater love, the love between friends.  
  
Ross' mind fluctuated between caring for Phoebe and Joey and Chandler's task. Guilt welled up inside for not accompanying them, but the truth was, he didn't know if he would be much help. He hated this Ted guy more than anyone in the world. He never trusted him to start out with…there was just something not right about him that he couldn't put his finger on. The guy had infringed on their lives so much in the past 8 or so days..one night he wanders into Central Perk, the next he asks Phoebe out, and the next he's at Monica and Chandler's trying to watch football with the gang in between attempting to shove his tongue practically all the way down Pheebs' throat.  
  
He looked down at his friend; she had drifted off to sleep. Lying there, breathing softly with her blond hair all in her face, she looked like an angel. For the first time in a day she seemed to be at rest, breathing steadily.  
  
He enlisted Monica's help and together they carried her to Rachel's bed. It was only 9 pm. They decided not to wake her tonight; she needed the rest. Rachel would return with her to her apartment in the morning. Tonight she decided to curl up next to her friend, making sure she'd be there for her the second she awoke.   
  
****************  
  
Chandler and Joey visited every building even remotely near the China King. This Ted guy was nowhere to be found. They returned home around 2 am, where they found Phoebe and Rachel fast asleep. They decided not to wake them.  
  
The next morning Phoebe woke up disoriented; she had had a pleasant dream, and now the evens of the past 36 hours had come flooding back. She lay there thinking for about a half an hour before Rachel woke up.  
  
"How are you doing dear?"  
  
"I honestly don't know."  
  
Eventually the girls went over to Monica and Chandler's to eat; everyone was there. The gang took turns giving Phoebe hugs. It started out to be one of the most awkward meals they had eaten together in years. Everyone was making small talk, trying not to re-upset Phoebe whilst making sure not to demean her experience by talking about other significant maters.  
  
Joey explained that Ted was no where to be found; Phoebe revealed that he never bothered to take her to his place. Chandler suggested she make a police report…he and Monica had discussed it in bed after he arrived; Monica confided in him that she was worried he might attack her again. All six of the gang discussed the pros and cons. Eventually, Pheebs made her decision. That afternoon the six of them would vist the police station.  
  
Epilogue  
  
The report was made and a month later Phoebe received a phone call. Ted had a wife and kids in New Jersey; he often stayed over in New York at various hotels for "business". He had raped another woman 2 weeks after he hurt Phoebe.  
  
The case came to trial and Ted was sentenced to 8 years in prison. This short sentence was an outrage, though it was obvious the only reason he was found guilty was because he had also attacked someone else.  
  
Rachel stayed with Phoebe for a week as Pheebs searched for a new apartment; she didn't want to relive the memories remaining in the place where it all happened. She moved in a floor above Monica and Chandler. She spent awhile in therapy, and as she grew stronger, became somewhat of a rape survivor advocate, speaking at local colleges and high schools.  
  
She is currently rebuilding her life. 


End file.
